of Institutions of Higher Education. The Princeton Review gives UW–La Crosse an "Admissions Selectivity Rating" of 84. The university extends offers of admission to, on average, around 80% of all applicants yearly after holistic review that includes examination of academic rigor, recommendations, essays, and high school performance, and admissions test scores, when submitted.
Incoming freshmen average an ACT score of 25 and a median high school class rank in the 80th percentile, the second highest academic profile in the UW System. In fall 2023, 60 high school valedictorians were represented in the incoming freshman class. UW–La Crosse also bolstered an 86.5% retention rate of 2022-23 first-year freshman returning to UWL their next year, the second highest in the UW System after the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
=== Rankings and recognition ===
In the 2025 U.S. News & World Report college rankings, the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse was ranked 28th out of 165 regional master's universities in the Midwest. …
